Anyone know anything about mulitchannel .m4a files/format?

[JonUrban]

I was reading some posts over at the Panasonic ELS audio page concerning the new ELS 3D Studio in the new Acura's, and there's a Facebook user who suggested using .m4a multichannel files. I am totally unfamiliar with that format. I don't think Sound Forge will save to an .m4a as I don't see it as an option.

Anyone used this before?

 

[sjcorne]

Perhaps this is that "MP3 Surround" format that came and went like nothing? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3_Surround

I once messed around with the encoding program for this...it is discrete but suffers from some serious compression

 

[François]

It’s mpeg4 audio, using AAC encoding. It’s the format used by Apple on the iTunes Store, for example (in stereo only). Audacity with the ffmpeg library should be able to handle this format.

 

[MrSmithers]

So just did a test conversion (FLAC>ALAC) on XLD and it seems to successfully put surround channels into the .m4a (Apple Lossless) format. I can send over a test file if you'd like?

 

[jimfisheye]

Yep, it's the Apple Lossless format. I'll 2nd XLD for a useful format conversion app. ALAC is basically identical to FLAC. Apple is still stubbornly disabling FLAC in iTunes to push ALAC. While not selling anything in ALAC in their iTunes store (still lossy AAC only). And then the irony here is while most media player apps recognize ALAC with MCH surround and play it just as well as FLAC, iTunes does not recognize surround files in its own native format.

A media player app that only works with ALAC and not FLAC? Seems like a stretch but it's possible. Try it!

I have noticed that video formats like .m4v can be made to host lossless audio with ALAC because it uses the same .m4a extension/format as the lossy version of AAC. I don't know how many video players will support that but there you go.

 

[kap'n krunch]

Wouldn't VLC play it too? Ain't nothing VLC won't play...PC and Mac

 

[jimfisheye]

Wouldn't VLC play it too? Ain't nothing VLC won't play...PC and Mac

As long as it's 2.0 or 5.1 and nothing in-between. VLC screws up 4.0. Hence the recommendation to put any formats less than 5.1 into a 5.1 container with digital blank for the unused channels.

 

[JonUrban]

Thanks guys. I'm Windows, not Apple (with the PC anyway), so XLD won't fly. I am not that sure about going .m4a anyway as it seems like a step down. Not sure why the people on ELS Facebook are talking .m4a anyway. The 5.1 .wavs work fine, you just can't tag them.

 

[jimfisheye]

.m4a can be lossless or lossy. When used with Apple lossless it's basically a clone of flac. So not a step down. Just that you can't tell from the file extension if it's the lossless version or not. This is a weird situation all right! Apple is still intentionally disabling native flac playback in iTunes (you have to hack the codec into it if you wish - kind of not worth the trouble) while not selling music in their lossless competitor at all. But then they also dropped their pro computer line a few years ago too. Sorry... venting.

XLD crashes in Windows though? That's disappointing then! I think Foobar2000 has a lot of conversion codecs built-in and/or available as plugins. If you can get past the GUI it runs in Windows and gets good reviews.

I wonder if the love for .m4a is the ability to use it with .m4v video files as a way to force lossless and MCH audio into that video format. I'm not sure how compatible such a video file might be among various media players though.

 

[JonUrban]

jim - I Google'd XLD and it came up as an Apple program, but I just Google'd XLD for Windows and now see it. So I'll give it a try. Thanks.

The main thing I am looking for is good sound on a file my car can play in 5.1 and in a format I can tag. Until they get the .flac compatibility working, I am stuck with .wav files - unless these .m4a files work.

 

[Clint Eastwood]

jim - I Google'd XLD and it came up as an Apple program, but I just Google'd XLD for Windows and now see it. So I'll give it a try. Thanks.

The main thing I am looking for is good sound on a file my car can play in 5.1 and in a format I can tag. Until they get the .flac compatibility working, I am stuck with .wav files - unless these .m4a files work.

Let me clarify....did they indicate to you that they are going to "fix" this issue..or are you just hoping they will

 

[JonUrban]

UPDATE: I tried b-converter, f-converter, and x-converter, which are all Windows versions of XLD from different people. All convert the 24/48 5.1 .wav file to 24/48 5.1 .m4a, and I am able to tag with song title, album title, artist, and album graphic. When I put the .m4a files on a USB stick and schlep them out to the car, the car reads the files, displays the graphics and the artist and titles, but I get no audio.

SO - it appears that this version of the ELS system does not play back .m4a files, but it reads them! Go figure.

As for the answer to Clint's question. Who F'm knows. This is all so new that no one knows what is going on. According to their FB page, the system plays 24/48 .flac's. But it dose not. So we are hoping it's only an update away. The freaking car has it's own WiFi, it should just update itself!